A Tale of Two She-Cats/Fishscale's Hope
This is the part of the fanfiction about Fishscale, originally known as Starfish. Prologue Starfish's sister was doing something suspicious. She was scraping her claw against the chain that held her to the bars of the cage, making a horrible screeching sound. Starfish wondered it didn't wake her mother and siblings. She shifted carefully to a new position in order to view Eris's actions more carefully. Her chain was almost broken in half by the time Starfish realized what she was doing. She scrambled up onto Drainpipe's body, intending to wake her mother, but then the chain fell with a clank onto the cage floor and Eris surged up toward the cage door, free. Starfish dropped down behind her mother. It was risky dealing with Eris when she was in a bad mood, which Starfish was sure she was. Actually, it was risky dealing with Eris even if she was in a good mood. So Starfish let her be, and instead peeked out from behind Drainpipe, watching to see what her sister did next. The black she-cat raised up a paw carefully, balancing gingerly on three paws, and inserted it through the bars of the cage. She twisted that leg around until she could poke one of her claws into the lock on their cage door. Eris twisted her claw around until Starfish heard a little click and the door swung loose. Starfish watched, her mouth an O, as Eris scrambled through the door, leaped down to the floor—their cage was stacked above two others, both empty—and slunk out of sight. She left the door open. By now, Drainpipe had awoken. Starfish knew she'd seen her oldest daughter leave, and whispered to her, "Shouldn't we close the cage, so the Twolegs don't get suspicious?" Drainpipe was a cat of few words, but Starfish knew when her mother nodded that she was proud of her daughter's cleverness. The great gray cat slunk toward the door and pulled it back inwards until they both heard another click and it latched shut. Chapter 1 Well, now I know how to escape this place, thanks to Eris, Starfish thought the next morning. Her head was clearer than it had been the night before, so she could really think on what her sister had done. She wondered if she would ever be brave enough to do it. Of course she hated the building. All cats did. The food was terrible, the cage was cramped, and her poor mother's kits were always scrambling over Drainpipe and their siblings and yowling Starfish's ears off. She knew it was even worse for Drainpipe. She was forced to mate with every single tom that came along and produce kits, kits, kits, kits, and more kits. Starfish wished she could get her mother out of there, but Drainpipe was chained up on each paw plus a collar around her neck — twice as much security as the kits — and plus, the Twolegs wouldn't care too much about a kit escaping, while if Drainpipe was gone... Starfish's mother was the main "producer," the Twolegs called it, and gave birth to most of the kits that the Twolegs "sold." Starfish still wasn't totally clear what the Twolegs did with all these cats, but she knew it wasn't anything good. Back to escaping. On one paw, if she could just get out of the cage she felt sure she could find a way out of the building. And, as she'd said, she hated the building, like everyone else did. But on the other paw, it would be dangerous. And difficult. And where would she go after she left? She had never left the building — none of Drainpipe's kits that were still living here ever had. Starfish knew Drainpipe and a few of the older males still kept here had been brought to the building by the Twolegs, but all of Starfish's brothers and sisters had been born here, like she had. That's it! I'll ask Drainpipe what it's like out there. But in the morning, because she'll be grumpy I ask her now. Starfish curled up in the curve of her mother's belly and closed her eyes. ---- "Mother, what's it like in the outside world?" Starfish yawned and blinked. It was early in the morning, and as far as she could tell, she and Drainpipe were the only cats awake in the building. The gray she-cat's expression turned wistful. "Oh, it's great out there," she said. "Freedom." It was a simple word, but seeing how her mother's face lit up, Starfish could tell that it was one that she valued. Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete) Category:Fanfictions Category:Content (Qibli77) Category:Fanfictions (Fanon)